Zabihullah Mujahid described the exchanges as “good” and hoped for improved relations between the two neighboring countries
Islamabad:
The Pakistani and Afghan Taliban held key talks in the Qatari capital for the first time in months as part of the latest efforts to resolve differences over the outlawed Tehreek-i-Taliban Pakistan (TTP).
The meeting took place on Monday at the residence of Pakistan’s ambassador to Qatar between Pakistan’s special envoy to Afghanistan Ambassador Asif Durrani and Taliban spokesman Zabiullah Mujahid.
Durrani and Mujahid were leading their respective countries’ delegations at the third meeting of the Doha Process on Afghanistan.
On the sidelines, Pakistan’s Ambassador to Qatar hosted Zabiullah Mujahid for dinner and held formal talks with Ambassador Asif Durrani.
Mujahid described exchanges with Pakistan as “good” and expressed hope for improved ties between the two neighbours, while Durrani said he had discussed the Doha summit and regional issues with the Taliban delegation.
The meeting comes amid rising tensions between Pakistan and the Taliban regime in Afghanistan, which have deepened after Pakistan suggested it may resort to cross-border attacks to target TTP terrorist hideouts.
Sources said the meeting was part of a renewed effort by Pakistan to persuade the Afghan Taliban to eliminate the TTP and its affiliates.
This latest move comes after Pakistan decided to use all diplomatic options to resolve the TTP issue.
read Taliban government meets with UN officials, Afghan envoy at Doha talks
One source said The Express Tribune The Taliban were told on Tuesday that there were no other issues between the two neighbours apart from the TTP, and Durrani told a Taliban spokesman that once Kabul resolves the issue, relations between the two countries will improve.
During a closed session of the Doha conference, Durrani raised the issue of sanctuaries and called on the Afghan Taliban to address the issue.
Pakistani and Afghan officials held bilateral talks and also participated in Qatar and Uzbekistan on the sidelines of the Doha conference to discuss a rail crossing project linking Pakistan and Uzbekistan through Afghanistan.
Meanwhile, at the end of the two-day meeting, a senior UN official made it clear that the Doha meeting and the Taliban delegation’s attendance should not be misconstrued as international recognition of the Kabul regime or a step towards it.
“This is not a meeting about awareness. This is not a meeting to lead to awareness. Engagement does not lead to awareness,” U.N. Under-Secretary-General for Political and Peacebuilding Affairs Rosemary DiCarlo told reporters in Doha.
“This is not about the Taliban. It’s about Afghanistan and its people,” she stressed, acknowledging that the UN had to give in to the Taliban’s demands because many stakeholders felt it was important to be at the conference.
However, she clarified that this did not mean that girls’ education and human and women’s rights issues were no longer a priority for the United Nations and other stakeholders.
